


Overjoyed

by ColorfulStabwound



Series: The Death of Draco Malfoy [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Daddy!Draco, M/M, Overjoyed, The Death Of Draco Malfoy, Uncle Theo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 10:26:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2578229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorfulStabwound/pseuds/ColorfulStabwound
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years have passed since your divorce from Astoria had been finalized. You’ve had two unheeded and completely untainted years to begin building your life with the only two people who ever really mattered to you. As a child you could have never imagined that this is where life would lead you, but here you are. You’ve come out on top despite countless odds stacked against you and you are finally happy. No fear. No lies or half-truths. Just happiness, and you couldn’t ask for anything more than that, not really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overjoyed

**Author's Note:**

> The character of Corvus Valentine is graciously borrowed from my writing partner, Unkissed.
> 
> As always, endless thanks my friend.
> 
> For Theodore and Scorpius, the only family Draco needs.

Two years have passed since your divorce from Astoria had been finalized. You’ve had two unheeded and completely untainted years to begin building your life with the only two people who ever really mattered to you. As a child you could have never imagined that this is where life would lead you, but here you are. You’ve come out on top despite countless odds stacked against you and you are _finally_ happy. No fear. No lies or half-truths. Just happiness, and you couldn’t ask for anything more than that, not really.

 

The soft sound of whimpering rouses you from your sleep and as your eyes slide open in the darkness, you are instantly on alert. You don’t rise just yet, instead you wait and you hold your breath and you listen. Again the faint whisper of a child’s soft cry filters through the half-shut doorway and you sit up, careful not to stir the still sleeping body beside you. It doesn’t take you long to slide silently out of bed, you’ve had more than enough practice for different reasons over the years.  You glance over your shoulder at the sleeping lump hiding beneath the thick duvet as you slip your robe on and you cannot help but smile because it is really only a tuft of dark curls and a pile of blankets.

 

Scorpius’ room is just down the hall and you make your way there quietly in the darkness, minding the various pieces of furniture that were waiting in the shadows to trip you up. You hear the soft whimper again as you push open the door to your son’s bedroom and you are instantly struck with an overwhelming sense of urgency to remedy whatever problem he was experiencing.  You step into his room and your eyes scan the immediate space. There is just enough light in the bedroom to make out a tiny lump in the center of his bed and you smile and move to the edge of it. “Scorpius?” Your voice is a dulcet whisper and it only takes a moment before the small lump of covers shifts and his head peeks out from beneath them just a fraction, pale eyes shining in the half-light. “What’s the matter?” You ask just as gently and your brow arches curiously.  “Shhh! Daddy be quiet he’ll hear you!” his voice is a muffled and frantic whisper that instantly sets you on alert. Once again your eyes scan the entire room and come up empty, leaving you to assume that perhaps Scorpius is merely suffering from a bad dream. You sit down on the edge of his bed and pull the covers off of him, which earns you a shriek as he scurries into your lap instead. “What’s got you so on edge, hmm?” Your arms instantly fold him up and hold him close and you smile like you always do because you just cannot help yourself.

 

Your entire life you’ve been schooled in the art of being a proper pureblood, and although you may have always known that the inevitable future of children would come, nothing could have ever prepared you for the moment that Scorpius came into your life. Never had you loved someone so fiercely and unconditionally as you do this tiny child in your lap and you think that you can finally begin to properly understand why your mother often acted the way she did. Not that you are excusing her actions, but still. You understand the drive behind it like you never could until you were a parent yourself. You had made this little boy a promise the day he was born, to protect him and to never allow him to feel as lost as you did growing up, and you intended to keep that promise.

 

“Bad dream?” You ask as your palm moves in soothing circles over his back. His arms are clamped around your neck and his face is buried in the collar of your robe and you cannot help but smile again. “It’s not a dream, Daddy. He was here, I saw him.” It never ceases to catch you off guard how astute your son is for his age and you almost want to laugh at the picture he makes in your arms. All pinched brows and tugged down frown. “Who was here?” You ask and then you tap the tip of his upturned nose, which earns you a tiny giggle.  “The _bad_ man.” He hisses behind his hand and then he lays his head against your chest and closes his eyes. 

 

You stand up with Scorpius still in your arms and circle the room, pausing to open the wardrobe and the door to the bathroom. You hadn’t actually expected to find anything but you still sigh quietly when you come up empty and as you stand there in the center of the large room, the reality of how late it was and how tired you were going to be tomorrow came rushing back to you. 

 

“Shall we try to go back to sleep now?” You say as you pat his back gently and when he doesn’t move to answer you peer down at him and smile.  “Yes. Let’s go daddy, back to your bed.” He says this all rather matter-o-factly while gazing up at the shadowy constellations that his night light casts on the ceiling. “You’ve got a perfectly fine bed right here.” You say and then you turn around to face the shrunken four-poster. 

 

“We won’t all fit Daddy.” He says this with such sarcasm that you are sure he rolled his eyes, both of which makes you laugh under your breath.  “Is that so?” You ask and then you turn towards the door because you’ve already lost this battle without even realizing it yet.  “Yes. We can’t forget Uncle Theo.” He says around a soft yawn and as you carry him down the hall back to your bedroom you smile to yourself and you silently agree.

 

_Yes, we can’t forget Uncle Theo._

By the time you step back into the room you share with Theodore he’s sitting up in bed awaiting your return and he doesn’t look the slightest bit surprised by the extra package you are carrying. “Bad dream?” He asks with a smile as he scoots over and makes room for you both. “It wasn’t a dream Uncle Theo, you believe me don’t you?” Scorpius had scooted himself right up against Theodore in the bed and was now cuddled against him and you could only smirk smugly as you watch this tiny blond boy work you both tighter and tighter around his fingers. Theodore was just as bad as you were and it only made you love him more.

 

“I’m telling you it was real! He was there I saw him!” Scorpius was waving a piece of bacon in his hand wildly as he spoke over breakfast the next morning and when you exchanged a _look_ across the table with Theodore, Scorpius huffed impatiently.  “You guys don’t believe me.”  He said this in his most petulant tone and then he crossed his arms in a huff and jutted out his bottom lip. You thought it best not to point out how adorable he looked when he was angry and instead you sipped your coffee thoughtfully before turning your attention back to him.

 

 “Who was it that you saw?” It was Theodore who spoke first and when Scorpius’ attention snapped towards him and the traces of pouting melted away, you could only watch.

 

“The bad man.” Scorpius said a bit quieter and leaned forward, as if he was frightened to speak of it.

 

“Who is the bad man?” Theodore pressed gently, not wanting to upset Scorpius, but also wanting to discern if this really was simply a bad dream, or perhaps something else.

 

Scorpius was silent for a long time and you couldn’t help but notice how fidgety he was in his chair. “Mummy…” He said and then quickly snapped his mouth shut and clamped a hand over it, which bewildered you both.

 

“Mummy is the bad man?” Theodore asked curiously and tilted his head, utterly confused.

 

“Isn’t _that_ the truth.” You muttered under your breath, which earned you a warning glare from Theodore that effectively curbed any and all incoming comments about Astoria.

 

Scorpius shook his head slowly and still had his hand clamped over his mouth, and although you told yourself that is was probably nothing more than the overactive imagination of a little boy, the tiniest sliver of uncertainty began to creep into your thoughts.

 

“Do you mean your mother’s friend Corvus?” Theodore was leaning forward with his elbows on the table, peering at Scorpius and his expression mirrored all of the concern that you felt internally, which, if you thought about it, was a perfect representation of how deep your connection ran with one another.

 

It was right about here that a cold shiver ran down your spine and you sat upright quickly, slate gaze fixed on your son and hanging on his words. 

 

Scorpius stared wide-eyed at Theodore for a long time as if he were afraid to answer, and when he finally did it was only a very brief nod of his head. If you had thought you were on edge before, it was nothing to the feeling that gripped you at the sight of the clearly terrified little boy sitting at the table with you. You wanted to strangle your ex wife and you still had no idea why—Not that it mattered. You generally wanted to strangle her most days.

 

“Did Corvus say something to you?” It was you who spoke this time and for all of your efforts, your voice still shook.

 

“No daddy, I just don’t like him.” The sincerity with which Scorpius spoke nearly broke your heart and when your gaze tore away from him and cut to Theodore, his eyes were red and he looked precisely how you felt, yet again.

 

“Well, then we must have a little chat with mummy about it.” You smiled and nodded reassuringly at him, although he didn’t look very reassured at all.

 

“You can’t _tell_ her daddy, _he’ll_ be angry.” He waved his bacon back and forth like a headshake as he spoke and under any other circumstances you would have laughed.

 

 

“But we must tell her Scorpius, how else can mummy make you feel safe when you visit her if she doesn’t know?” Scorpius seemed to consider your words for a moment and you couldn’t help but smile because he was so _painfully_ Malfoy that it was almost comical.

 

“Ok daddy.” He said finally and then he heaved the most dramatic sigh ever heaved by a five year old.

 

“It’s settled then. And you’ll tell me or Uncle Theo is Corvus is anything but polite to you?” You arched a brow as you waited for the response you wanted to hear and when Scorpius nodded brightly you and Theodore both heaved a quiet sigh of relief.

 

Your talk the following weekend with Astoria doesn’t go exactly how you planned it in your head.  In your head Astoria wasn’t such an insufferable bitch when you questioned Corvus Valentine’s mental capacity and threated them both with bodily harm if a single _hair_ on Scorpius’ head was out of place when he was returned to you. In hindsight, you might have been a _tad_ more hostile than the _you_ in your own head, but that is neither here nor there. You had already had your doubts about Corvus, and now you possessed solid reasons for your dislike.

 

The entire two weeks Scorpius spends with his mother you are a bundle of crackling nerves on edge beneath the surface of your skin. You don’t know it yet but this feeling will _never_ leave you, and even as Scorpius grows into a teenager, you still find yourself inwardly reluctant to let him stay with his mother and Corvus. Of course, you never have solid proof of any mistreatment and Scorpius never says anything directly to you, but you cannot help but feel as if there is _something_ there. This will be a running theme every fortnight of your life when Scorpius visits with Astoria and when he runs away with Albus Potter at seventeen, a small part of you will be relieved to not have to worry about him as much as you do when he is with his mother.

 

When it is just you and Theodore in the house it is even harder to relax because every thought you possess is with your five year old son who may or may not be crying his eyes out with no one but a drunk and a monster to comfort him.  When Theodore takes you by the hand and leads you into the bathe you heave a quiet sigh and you wonder what you could have possibly done in this life to deserve him.

 

It is easier to shed your guilt and your worry with his arms around you and as you lie against his front, surrounded in warm water, you allow yourself to believe that maybe it really _will_ be okay.  

 

“Astoria would never let anything happen to him.” Theodore says with an assurance that you _really_ want to believe.  “And I’m sure Corvus isn’t as bad as you think he is.” He adds this with a little nervous laugh that you only ever hear when Theodore is trying to convince himself of something as much as he is trying to convince you.

 

“I hope you’re right.” You say with a wry grin and then you twist around in the water to face him and when he touches you _just like that_ , you can forget about everything except the two of you and this moment, at least for a little while.

 

When Scorpius returns from Astoria’s he is smiling and happy, and although you examine him extensively for damage and/or bruising, you are relieved to find nothing. He is spouting off non-stop about the trip to the wild animal park he took and you laugh close-lipped under your breath at the mere _thought_ of Astoria surrounded by wild animals in cages.  

 

Scorpius doesn’t say anything at all about Corvus and when you ask him about it he is vague at best. When you can find nothing to be concerned with you decide to let it go and once again you are a happy and carefree trio.  Theodore suggests a weekend trip to the ocean and when Scorpius squeals in delight, your (trademark) look of disdain is quickly replaced with resigned acceptance.

 

Lying on a blanket on a sandy beach is something that you no longer associate with discomfort; Theodore himself has made sure of that. You look much more at ease beneath a large umbrella and a pair of sunglasses on that you ever could have ten years ago.  You are content to watch Scorpius and Theodore splash in the waves and when they call to you from the edge of the water you cannot resist joining them. Of course you toes never get any farther than barely submerged, but it is enough for them both and before long the three of you are running down the beach and you look exactly like the perfect family that you never knew, you always wanted.


End file.
